Clasp



(No Modl.)

- J. MERRIA'M.

CLASP.

No. 385,192. Patented June 26, 1888,.

fiwawb I I NlTE TATES JOSEPH MERRIAM, OF MIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT.

.CLASP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 385,192, dated June 26. 1888.

Application filed April 9, 1887. Serial No.234,394. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, Josnrrr MERRIAM, of Middletown, in the county of Middlesex and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Clasps, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, whereby any one skilled in the 'art can make and use the same.

The object of my invention is to provide a clasp or buckle that can be rcadilyattached to a horse-blanket or like article, and having means whereby the clasp parts may be engaged and disengaged readily, and will yet be of such form as to tend to prevent the accidental disengagement of the parts. The horse-blankets in general use are fastened across the chest of a horse by means of an ordinary buckle and strap, or by means of a device-such as a loop and hook that hasa springtongue to close the open side of the hook, which are difficult to operate, unless the hands are free and uncovered; but in my within described improved clasp the parts are so constructed as to obviate this difficulty.

My invention consists in a base-plate having on one edge a back-turned hook, the mouth of which is partly closed by a rigid tongue, in combination with a loop-plate, with means whereby it may be attached to the blanket, and in details of the several parts and their combination, as more particularly hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure l is a plan view of the improved clasp shown in use on a blanket, part only of the blanket being shown. Fig. 2 is adetail view in longitudinal central section through the clasp parts and at taching strap and disk. 3 is a plan view of the blank from which the base plate is formed.

In the accompanying drawings, the letter a denotes the baseplate blank that is cut or struck from thin metal, preferably steel, as by means of dies, and has the forward'extemling points, the center one, a, of which is bent up and turned back to form thehook b, while the spurs a are bent downward into a position at right angles to the base-plate, and at the rear end of the plate the projections a are formed, that are also turned downward in the same plane with relation to the plate as the spurs a and these spurs are passed through the holes in the leather-attaching disk or like part, and are then turned back and clinched to fasten the base-plate to the article, as illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

The tongue (I is turned up from the baseplate and projects toward the point-of the hook b, leaving but a narrow space between the point of the rigid hook and the point of the rigid tongue.

Thefattaching-disk is secured to the blanket, preferably by stitching, and is somewhat larger than the base-plate, in order that a larger extent of surface of the blanket may be inclosed by the stitching to prevent the tearing away of the clasp. It furnishes,also,a desirable finish, giving a better appearance to the blanket, and it is of further use in affording a comparatively rigid base for: the clasp part, that is needed for the success and easy clasping or unclasping of the parts. The loop-base e is likewise formed of metal, cut or struck to shape of a blank,with laterally-extending arms that are afterward bent inward toward each other on the under side of the loop-base, so as to form the strap-loop cand a stop-loop, 6 the former being bent down nearer the plate than the latter, so that the end of the strap f may be passed under and around the strap-loop e and tucked back under the stop-loop 6 In the front end of the loop-base is formed the slot e through which the end of the hook I) may be thrust to engage the parts. This slot is preferablylof such a width, measuring lengthwise of the loop-base,' as to cause the back edge of the slot to come into contact with the front side of the hook before the cross-bar that forms the front part of the loop has become disengaged from the hook.

Instead of the narrow slot a larger opening may be made in the loop-base, as is indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, and the parts are prevented from becoming disengaged by the front end of the loop-base striking the under side of the rigid tonguc,nnless the parts move toward each other in a certain peculiar position that enables the end of the loopbase to be passed backward through the narrow opening left between the end of the rigid tongue and the point of the hook.

I claim as my invention-- l. The improved base-plate blank made of thin metal cut or stamped. to shape with the forward-projecting parts, a a, and the rearward-projectingspurs, a and the tonguepiece out free from the base-piece on all but one side, all substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

2. In combination with the attaching-disk c, the base-plate having on its front edge the hook b, and the integral rigid tongue (1, extending forward at an angle with the base plate and with its front end lying close to the IQ point of the hook, and the loop-base 6, with the integral strap-loop and stop and the'slot 0?, and the attaching-strap f, all substantially as described.

' JOSEPH MERRIAM.

Witnesses:

CHAS. L. BURDETT,

A. B. JENKINS. 

